"Based upon my observations as an Ohio recount witness for John Kerry in Clermont County, Ohio I do not accept the validity of the electoral votes from Ohio. Clermont County used a ballot system where voters blackened circles next to the candidate they selected. The ballots were then scanned by a machine to determine the vote tallies for all races.

I know the vote was hacked, since I witnessed the following problems during the recount:

1. Board of Elections (BOE) selected there own 3% hand count sample, not conforming to any scientifically valid sampling procedure. The hand count sample deviated from the official machine count. The BOE attempted to offset differences in overvotes and undervotes from 1 precinct to another, but it still would not balance. Although Ohio state law requires a 100% hand recount if machine and hand counts do not match, the director of the BOE refused us a 100% recount and deemed any difference immaterial.

2. Unique oval-shaped white stickers were placed over the circles next to candidate Kerry's name and the circles next to Bush's name were blackened. The BOE staff and officials all denied any knowledge of how the stickers came to adhere to the ballots, although they were identical to stickers used to identify switches and knobs located on the ballot scanning machines at the board of elections. When the ballots were scanned the machine registered a vote for Bush. The effect of the stickers was to change an overvote to a vote for Bush, or a vote for Kerry into a vote for Bush depending on whether the voter or an official blackened the circle for Bush. When this anomaly was discovered by the witnesses the BOE insisted on counting the ballot for Bush.

3. I discovered non-security keys for ballot boxes lying around the BOE scanning rooms. I repeat, the keys were just lying around. At one point, Director Bare came in asking if anyone had a key for the ballot boxes. In another instance a worker announced she found her key. The locks for the ballot boxes were Master 1.5 inch key locks. All ballot boxes were identically keyed. The keys resembled a mailbox key, and they were not security keys, nor were they labeled "do not duplicate." Any BOE employee, county employee or witness for any one of 4 political parties could have taken a key and made a copy at anytime. Also, another Kerry witness stated ballot boxes were not in compliance Ohio state code.

4. I observed a ballot box with 678 ballots in a precinct, Union Township E, with 1190 votes for president. The BOE Director explained this anomaly as resulting because a different ballot box had 522 ballots for a 3 column zoning referendum. Yes, the number of ballot box pages balanced, but that still did not account for 1190 votes for president. When I queried the BOE employees, Director Bare screamed at me for continuing to ask questions about a precinct with ballot pages equaling number of votes for president. Director Bare refused to acknowledge this anomaly and threatened to remove me from the BOE premises if I mentioned the subject again. Since, I was the only Kerry witness present that day, I stopped for fear of leaving Kerry without a witness.

5. Ralph Nadar's Name appeared on the ballot, although Ralph Nadar was not running for president in the state of Ohio. Director Bare explained this anomaly because he was told by the printing company he had insufficient time to reprint the ballot. Bare later said he was concerned that the county "would have no ballots for the election. We thought that leaving Nader's name on the ballot was less of a problem." A worker at the Board of Elections told us that Clermont County was "first in line at the printing company, and Dan didn't want to lose that place in line."

All official Cobb-Badnarik recount observers' daily reports definitely WERE forwarded to the Cobb campaign via their County Coordinator and the Regional Coordinators.

Everybody who was in a position to have something to "come forward with" was in the loop.

Coordinators did their level best to make sure that the most crucial reports were brought to the most immediate attention of the recount staff and their legal team each day.

All that said, there were literally hundreds if not thousands of reports, pounds and pounds of paper, so some of it is possibly still being analyzed and that is why you may not see all counties posted on the votecobb.org recount site yet.

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